21. A Strong Thread that Binds us Together
Chapter 21
A Strong Thread that Binds us Together
‘ S o, you’re a farmer’s wife. You must be kept very busy, up at all hours,’ Diane said after a while.
‘I wouldn’t change it. We’re happy here, me and our Reg. It’s been hard, of course it has, and there were times I thought we weren’t going to make it, but somehow, we always did, and the farm’s doing all right now with Peter in charge. He’s a good son.’ She smiled fondly. ‘Now, let me get this right, Diane, you’re Matt’s mother?’
‘No, I’m Stella’s mother.’
‘Stella?’ Mrs Thompson sounded puzzled.
‘Oliver’s mum. She died last year,’ Amy explained.
‘Oh ay. I remember you saying. That must have been so hard; us old ‘uns are meant to go before the young ‘uns, aren’t we?’ she said, though anyone would be hard pressed to describe her son Peter honestly as a ‘young ‘un’ these days. Diane said nothing; she nodded and stirred her teacup, the spoon on the china tinkling like ice. ‘So, you’re on your own, are you?’ Mrs Thompson asked.
‘My husband died several years ago and my other daughter, Veronica, lives in Huddersfield. Stella and Oliver were all I had left, and now …’
‘That’s hard. You must be happy to spend Christmas with your grandson.’ Mrs Thompson sat back in her chair.
‘Yes. He reminds me so much of Stella when she was his age. I sometimes look at him and I see her. It can be a real comfort. In some ways, she lives on in him.’ She sipped her tea and placed her cup carefully back onto her saucer, her hand trembling slightly.
‘And you must miss your husband. I don’t know what I’d do without my Reg. Peter always says we keep each other going. He’s over eighty now, you know, and I’m not far behind him.’
‘We were never exactly the romantic type ourselves, Dennis and I, if you know what I mean.’ Diane picked up her teacup again, then put it down without drinking anything.
‘Ay. You get too old for all that lovey-dovey stuff, don’t you? But underneath all that there’s something stronger, isn’t there? A strong thread that binds us together, that’s what I think.’ Her eyes crinkled as she smiled. On the mantlepiece was a leather-framed photograph of the Thompsons on their wedding day, and, despite the sixty years since then, the elderly couple were instantly recognisable. Mrs Thompson’s crinkled smile hadn’t changed.
‘I like knowing Reg is there,’ she continued. ‘I even like to listen to him snoring at night. Reg being there makes everything all right. He doesn’t need to tell me he loves me – I can see it in everything he does.’
Amy nodded, thinking of Matt, but Diane seemed flustered.
‘Well, that’s … I wonder if I may have another of those delicious mince pies? I haven’t had a home-ma de mince pie as good as these for years. I don’t bake myself.’ She said it grandly, as though she had a team of servants to do her baking for her, rather than an online account at Waitrose.
‘You’re welcome.’ Mrs Thompson seemed pleased someone was enjoying her cooking. ‘Reminds me of the old days. Used to have a houseful on Christmas Eve. Eh, I remember a time when there were carollers from the church went round all the farms in the dale and we would make them mince pies. The vicar’s daughter used to lead the church choir – pretty thing she was. I often wondered if her and our Peter … Eh, but never mind that. A lot of water under the bridge since then. Lovely to hear their voices on the night air. Silent night, holy night …’ She sang the first couple of lines of the old carol and her voice was as old and creaky as the farmhouse itself. ‘We don’t even have a vicar of our own now. Have to share one with six or seven other parishes, and I can’t remember the last time I went to church.’
‘Dennis was a vicar and I still go to his old church regularly. I still feel as if it’s somehow my parish too. I stopped at your village church yesterday, and I noticed there was a carol service later today. I thought it might be nice to take the boys this afternoon, don’t you think, Amy?’ She said it almost as if it was a challenge to Amy, who was frantically trying to think of a polite way to decline. She couldn’t think of anything Harry would find less ‘nice’ than attending a carol service with Diane.
‘I’ll have to do the shopping,’ she said with relief. ‘And I think, after all, it might be easier for everyone if I took Harry with me.’
‘Never mind, I’m sure Matt and Oliver will keep me company,’ Diane said, and Amy breathed an inward sigh of relief. Perhaps, after all, a food shop on the afternoon of Christmas Eve wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
Matt and the boys came to collect them from the farm and they walked back to the cottage together. Harry bubbled over with stories about the dogs and the sheep.
‘Guess what we found?’ Harry said, as Matt opened the garden gate. ‘Olly, come here and help me tell her about it.’
‘Sheep poo?’ Amy guessed. ‘Or a den? Or … um … I don’t know … badgers?’
‘Badgers? No! We found an observatory.’
That wasn’t what she’d been expecting. ‘An observatory?’
‘Yeah, like the one in Winter Holiday ?’ Oliver said. ‘When you pass the cottage, there’s a track up to an old barn, just like the one in the book. You can climb to an upstairs bit like they did, though Dad wouldn’t let us ‘cos the floor was dangerous. And you can get a mobile signal up there too.’
‘Wow, that’s something!’ Amy said. ‘So old fashioned signals and modern ones too.’
‘Look, there it is.’ Harry led her to the corner of the garden and pointed to a semi-derelict stone building three-quarters of the way up the slope. Amy had seen it many times before, but never given it a second thought.
The phone started to ring in the living room, just as Matt was holding the door open for Diane to enter the cottage.
‘Puppies!’ yelled Harry, forgetting all about the observatory.
‘Maybe it’s the pub,’ said Matt .
Amy answered the phone, while Matt and the boys went to take their coats and shoes off. Diane had disappeared up to her bedroom with the enormous fur hat under her arm.
‘Hello, it’s Gary here, from down at the Shepherds’ Rest.’
‘Hello,’ Amy said. She mouthed ‘the pub,’ to Matt, as he passed the door.
‘I’ve got some good news for you. You was after a table for tomorrow.’
‘That’s right. Has one come up?’
‘More than one. You can choose, first or second sitting. A few people have been put off by the weather forecast, decided it’s safer to stay at home.’
‘Is it bad for tomorrow?’ Without tv, broadband or phone signals it was difficult to keep up to date, and, last time she’d listened to the radio the weather forecast for the week had been set for calm but cold.
‘Ay. You could say that.’ Gary’s voice had an edge of fatalism to it. ‘Possibility of blizzards sweeping south from Scotland. They might not reach this far south, but if they do … if you’re coming from, say, Carlisle or even Keswick, you wouldn’t want to be trying to get back home again in a blizzard. You’ll be all right though, if the car gets stuck you’ve only got that short walk over the fields. Would you prefer 12 or 3 o’clock?’
Matt came into the room.
‘I’ll check. Matt, it’s the pub. They can get us in tomorrow, either twelve or three o’clock sitting. What do you think? And should with we check with Diane?’
‘Go for twelve. Knowing the boys, they’ll be ready for dinner by about half-past-ten, never mind twelve. Then they can play with their new games after lunch and it’s not too late to walk home in the dark if it does snow and we can’t get the car back.’
She nodded. ‘Twelve o’clock, please.’
‘Table for five at twelve. See you tomorrow.’
‘Is there an emergency?’ Diane came downstairs.
‘No, it was the Shepherds’ Rest. They’ve got a table for us tomorrow after all, so I don’t need to go and find a turkey.’ Amy walked back into the kitchen.
‘That’s absolutely marvellous.’ Diane cast a sideways glance at Amy. ‘That means you and Harry can come to church this afternoon. Won’t that be absolutely perfect!’
‘I’m not sure that Harry will want to –’ she began, as Harry and Oliver came back into the room, now without their outside coats and boots.
‘What will I want?’ Harry asked.
‘To go to church with Mrs Willis,’ she said.
‘Is Olly going?’
‘Yeah. I want to go with Granny.’
‘Then I want to go too. Yay, church!’
‘Then we’ll all go. Absolutely perfect,’ said Amy.